The Marathon

As many of you know, in February or March, my oncologist believes I will probably need to begin treatment. The most likely treatment option is one that has a host of charming side effects, including hand and foot sores, and explosive diarrhea. You're welcome for that visual. Anyway, you may remember that just after I got this news in November, I said that, one way or another, I was going to run a marathon in February, because if not now, when? (And, PS, that's true for the rest of you lot, too. As many of us in BG were reminded all-too-vividly over this break, we never know when we'll get called Home.)

Over the past few months, my friends Elizabeth Gorski, JD Pooley, Meg McVey, and my doctor, Brian Rini, have been training and preparing to run 26.2 miles together on Sunday, 2 Feb... Super Bowl Sunday, and Groundhog Day! For Meg and I, it's a first marathon; for all of us, the first in winter (and we are sure hoping for at least 15*F that day!!).

This run is a PURELY informal affair! And by purely, I mean that in the sincerest definition of "pure." In "Born to Run," Chris McDougall talks about how running as a community activity - and NOT as a race - is part of the secret of not just the physical health of the Tarahumara, but their social and mental health, as well. 

Now, I also mean this is informal in a purely legal sense. There aren't going to be any crossing guards, closed roads, formal aid stations, or anything like that. We'll have some friends who offer up water or Gatorade along the way, and you're welcome to stow a warm pair of shoes or spare pair of socks somewhere on the route!  If you run with us, you're running at your own risk, just like you would if you decided to lace up the shoes on any given Sunday and go out for a run with your best friend! 

I would love to invite some of you to run with us, for a mile or two, even for a few hundred yards! I can tell you personally that, based on my long runs of up to 17.5 miles, I sure would love to see some fresh faces and fresh legs in those last ten miles to keep us going!! Maybe you'd like to adopt a mile near the end to come run with us! I'll be posting more information here as we get closer to the race. But if you feel like a run on Groundhog Day - well before the Super Bowl starts! - come on out with us! 


9am start at St. Aloysius
The Boyledonia government offices and Katie's office building on campus are on the route 3 times if running the whole marathon. Great places to stash or discard layers.